At the Ogra Fianna Fail gathering in Bundoran, Mr Cowen said his government would not shirk from its responsibilities in taking the “right course of action” in next month's Budget.

But he did not use a section in his scripted speech which replicated the famous words in the 1980s of another former Fianna Fail leader, Charles Haughey.

The scripted sentences were: “We are living way beyond our means and we must pull back. There is no option to do otherwise.”

Mr Cowen did speak about pushing through the pension levy last March, which has led to an average 6.9% deduction from the wages of the State's 300,000-plus public servants.

“We had to bring forward a pension levy which I tried to get agreement on but, in the absence of agreement, proceeded by coming into the Cabinet the next day and proposing it, and getting it through the house — and that is what we have to do further.”